Daytripper

Most ?

You reckon you'd see Matt Ford or David Gordon getting filthy dirty lugging track covers around ? Not to mention CVS.Cant see it myself ! Even on your estimates it means starting the job two hours before it rains, then it would have to stop by about three in the afternoon at the latest to start getting it all up and the track prepared for racing. Seems uneconomic to me on a cost/benefit basis.

A complete air fence costs around 20k new, give or take a bit depending who you buy it from. It's not just putting it up , it needs labour to take down and put away. Each section is very heavy , and when folded and wet takes four men to lift and there are about 20-24 sections on the whole track I think. I don't know how much an track cover weighs but I would imagine they are extremely heavy. I very much doubt that they could be thrown down and picked up at a moments notice. I don't know whether they can be put down using some kind of mechanical attachment on the tractor put I think it would all or mostly done by manual labour. Think about it. Assuming they were stored round the back of the stadium then to get it all loaded onto a trailer, taken round to the track and properly laid out I would say it woukd take a team of say 8 track staff at least an hour maybe much more to get it all down, assuming you could get 8 blokes to take time off work that early in the day, before it rains, and if it rains before all the covers are down you are left with a track that is patchy. Then you have to get people to lift it all up again, possibly soaking wet if it has rained, andthe track curator still has to prepare the track for racing, which is not a 5 minute job. On top of all that you still have to find people to put the air fence up, erect the starting gate, clean the pits and all the other unpaid jobs that need doing by volunteers before the public arrive.

Good post, but the usual (bitter) suspects won't have it that Lakeside can produce good racing despite plenty of neutrals saying otherwise. Of course, good racing depends on both teams being up for it, and what we saw last night was some good old fashioned Speedwáy with every rider challeging for every point in every race, and in 3or 4 races the minor placings were still being fought over as they crossed the line. Well done to both teams, this was one meeting where all riders were a credit to their respective clubs If we had more meetings like that the crowds woukd be coming back, I am sure. Also have to say there was a good atmosphere between the two sides. I had a good chat with Craig Cook- top man as well as a good rider. Scott and the Worralls are all nice blokes off the track and it all makes for a good meeting. Such difference to having Muddlo walking round with a face like a wet week end wondering what he can complain about next. A nyway, my thoughts:- AJ - kept missing the gate and most of his points came from the back, to the delight of the crowd. King Richard - money spent on equipment has brought him back in the points again. Good night but a pity his bike spluttered at the start of heat 15 and let the Aces get away LBR- The erratic Jawa still costing him points. This time there seemed to be plenty of grunt on the bends but lack of speed on the straights. A decent night for him but could probably have scored a few more on a GM. Kim- a bit of a dip compared with recent weeks, and apparently carry a bit of a knee injury from Sweden the other night, but still very solid. Meario- After a season of struggling the old 2011 Robert suddenly appeared in the crucial heat 12 to see Richie Worrall off and join Kerr for a 5-1 which effectively sealed the win for the Hammers. Lewi Kerr- Some absolutely courageous riding on a borrowed bike after Kelvin was putting him in some very hard races with some reserve switches, but it all came good in the end when he went out and sewed up heat 12 in a terrific ride. Steve Worrall- Solid but unspectacular. Far to good for EDR. Nick Morris- Max Fricke is good but Morris is better. Excellent choice of guest and rode as if it was for his home club. Very professional job all round. Scott- Led from the front. Best he has ridden at Lakeside for some years. More like the Scott of 6 or 7 years ago. Cookie- Detuned his bike after a poor start, started finding grip and was flying at the finish. " Not a bad little track" was his verdict. Richie Worrall- Had a great ride to catch and pass Bridger but later inexplicably conceded a 1-5 in heat 12 which on paper he was favourite to win easily, but generally showed more flair than previous visits. Too good to be at reserve though. Joe Jacobs- Failed to score but that was due to inexperience rather than lack of effort. I thought he improved with every ride though, so can't complain. In short this was one meeting where I don't think either side had any seriously weak links and everyone did pretty much what was expected of them . Well done.

In hospital, yes, but not much news on the present situation. Get well soon Bryn.

The team is not a bad side the problem is the fixture clashes or riders otherwise missing. With hindsight it seems a big mistake to have let Piotr Swiderski go. Ed Kennet is a better rider but at least Swid was always there and good for 8 or 9 points at home riding at No2 which would have been more than enough to get the win over Poole and almost certainly enough to see Belle Vue off. Admittedly Swid sometimes struggled away but they never won any away matches after he left so that really makes no difference. As has been said Lakeside are weak at reserve, and can in no sense replace Kennets ability. Very disappointing.

Riding for Rye House.

In 2010 Speedwáy Star published an interview with Stuart Douglas who put forward a strong argument for a regular pay structure to stop riders playing one club off against another as to who could pay the highest wages. Unfortunately it got pushed aside and over ruled in the winter of discontent.

There are so many different dimensions to it, it's impossible to list them all . Apart from the obvious things we all agree on, like the track action, one of the things I really like is that off track nearly all the riders are really nice easy to talk to guys. I chat to Andreas Jonsson most meetings it amazes me that here is one of the top 10 men in the world in this sport and he just chats with no airs and graces, no big head, just an ordinary bloke, and it's not just him, Doyley, Holder, Bomber , Hans, and most of the others are all really nice ordinary guys. I can't think of any other sport where those at the top of the tree are so ordinary and not full of themselves. There are a very few rough diamonds but as a group I think speedway riders are the best of any sport by far.

Just to be clear, the article gives Matt Fords version of events. Nothing more.

Thanks to some unprofessional throwing away of points by needless falls and exclusions Lakeside made heavy weather of this in the early stages, and the score was closer than it should have been but fortunately some great stuff from AJ, Kim, and especially Ed steadied the ship and saw the Hammers home comfortably in the finish, against a Swindon side that apart from Robbo and Doyley never really looked up for it. FOR LAKESIDE AJ - A routine day at the office for paid 13. Ed- Star of the Show. His race long heat 1 duel with Doyley, which he won after much passing and re-passing was the race of the night and one of the best of the season, closely followed by a great heat 15 cut back off bend 4 to take point from Morris on the line. Rich- After a cracking start to the season he has become a little erratic. Beat Doyle in one race then forced to last place by Robbo in the next.. Lewis B. Lew's problem is that Team Rebolution are trying different things all the time on the Jawas. One week he is given a rocket, the next week it is a lawnmower. Seemed like the lawnmower this week . No lack of effort by the rider, but the bike wasn't doing the job. Kim-. Looking very professional these days. Good show at No5 Mearcat -Still struggling Lewis K. - Trying too hard again. Breaking the tapes and 2 falls, cost the team valuable points. FOR SWINDON Doyley- Good bloke, good rider, and did a good job on a super fast bike. Sedgie-I like Justin and it was good to see him back at Lakeside again but he seems to have been having a bit of a bad run lately which continued tonight. Nick- Good rider and did an OK sort of job but doesn't seem to quite have the edge he had last year Bjarne- Either Matt Ford gave him a dropsie to try to keep Swindon out of the play offs or he is past his sell by date but he was a pale shadow of the GP rider he once was. So glad Lakeside chose Bridger instead of Bjarne. Retirement must be looming. Looks uncomfortable on the bike now and well off the pace of all but the EDR riders. Robbo- What can I say ? You give Robbo a bit of dirt round the outside and he becomes Mr Entertainment. Words can't express the way he just made every race he was in come alive. Big score well deserved for one of the nicest guys in Speedwáy . I really enjoyed watching him and so it seems did everyone else. Great stuff. Danny- Did his best and showed some spirit, and you can't ask more from an NL/PL standard rider. Not fast enough for the top league but wasn't disgraced.

Not sure that Batch or Nick would have done any better than Rory. Troy has never really done much in the past and probably wouldn't now on present form. Nick is very brave and has impressed me in the past but Rory knows the track very well and Nick at his best might have scored a point or two more but probably not much in it at best. Contrary to what people say about Lakeside the track seems to be making a lot of dirt on the outside line these days and that's where AJ , Lewis B. and Ed are scoring a lot of points from but not many riders seem to have the confidence to be out there. Danny King does well on the outside and Holder and Paul Starke did last week but thats about it.

He is indeed back on his own GM's. Part of the problem is that he couldn't get the Jawas out of the gate . The other problem with Jawas as could be seen with Lewis Bridger last night is that they tend to die exiting the bend . Time after time we saw Lewis pulling ahead on the straights , then looking like he was about to stop exiting the bend before coaxing it back into life and flying off down the straight again. Bridger is experienced enough to cope with that but it doesn't seem to suit Lewi Kerrs riding style. The way Kerr out gated and stayed in front of Lingren for example was something one can't imagine him doing on the Jawa. Hopefully more of this to come when the GM is fully dialled in. I spoke LK before the meeting last night. He certainly loves it at Lakeside. I spoke to a few of the others as well, all moaning about the state of some of the tracks especially Coventry Swindon.

There was a time when I would be distraught at being so close to an away track and not able to go. Now reading that I am sitting thinking his glad I am I didn't bother. Can't believe I feel like it after all these years. Not Bridgers fault though. He only gets to ride once in a blue moon, not being allowed to double down to PL while other riders on higher averages are allowed to double down. Meanwhile a Danish ex-GP rider fills a reserve berth designed to give young Brits experience. Absolutely bonkers.

According to the Poole website Ellis was unavailable due to change of dates. What's going on here ? Poole change a meeting to a date they know a rider will not be available and field a six man team. Shouldn't any club that do this be subject to disciplinary action ?

Last straw for me. I am staying about 20 miles away and was going to pop over for this one, but the farce of Pedersen at reserve and reserves taking Kennets rides it really kills it as a serious competition . Hardly worth the time and money . The whole sport is becoming more and more of a shambles.

Yes . It got to heat 8 and we were all having a laugh about that. You can imagine the uproar amongst the keyboard couch potatoes on here , looking at Speedway Updates, cocoa in hand if that happened. Another that thing that amused me that would upset bigcatdiary and all the Lakeside haters was that Jon Cook was saying in his programme notes that further changes to the team could still be made if a suitable rider becomes available. I thought hmmm, who has become "available" ? Could be a certain Lakeside track specialist ex-Poole, ex -Leicester now without a job ? Have a chuckle and keep it to yourself we don't want to kick off another 30 pages from people who told their mates at work and they all collapsed in shrieks of laughter ! (Its just a joke fellers I am not saying its going to happen ....er .... but this is speedway.... many a true word and all that you know !))

Thank goodness some are still interested in what actually happened rather than the back stabbing. There is no doubt that the wheels fell off the Lakeside juggernaut bigtime, but apart from the actual result it was probably the worst meeting entertainment wise since the present promotion took over.. As has been said Jon Cook took to the mic to apologise for the poor standard and to acknowledge that people could find better things to do on a Friday night than watch rubbish like that. The track was dangerous ( and that was the opinion of a top Lakeside rider, not the whingeing Kylmakorpi) . The heavy rain recently had damaged the track and it had to be re-laid ( I understand it was the same with Poole , Rye House and possibly a few others) . Unfortunately more rain seems to have damaged it further making rideable but not raceable, and certainly below par for entertainment. 14 of the heats were effectively over by bens 2 and Kim Nilsson was the one exception that was able to make a genuine overtake. It was pretty much gate and go and Holder and Starke were the only ones that really had the gate weighed up. It was the same for both teams of course but it was a bit of a freak meeting with the track like that. Lawson and Bridger seemed well of the boil and struggled with the track. In Lewis' case he doesn't have enough time on the bike and is the victim of the crackpot BSPA ruling that says the British Champion and the runner-up can double down, the two reserves in the British GP can double down, but Bridger, who has a lower average than any of them can only ride EL. You really have to wonder at the mentality of the people running this sport. Finally Paul Starke. Unbelievable. It is difficult to describe in words just how competent, confident and stylish he looked. Quite honestly he looked to every inch a reasonable 2nd/3rd heatleader, maybe the sort of standard you would expect from say Rory Schlein,, as he was a year or two back. I was amazed by how much he has come on. I would even go as far as to say on that form he looked probably the best EDR rider I've seen this year with the possible exception of Steve Worrall and I am net even sure about that. The one glimmer of enjoyment in a dull and disastrous meeting was seeing the improvement in this young rider who has come up the hard way and not had all handed to him on a plate. , so well done Paul.

He had a brand new Ashtec for Lakeside's last two home meetings. He seems to have gone full circle now.

Apparently so, and unlikely to be back in the foreseeable future (from the horses mouth) There were no bumps and holes. A rut opened up on bend two caused by Lewis Kerr doing his pirouette in his opening ride when his bike went over the fence and that was about it. The track was making dirt from about heat 5 onwards and the rakers were dragging it back after virtually every race after that. i Perhaps that's one reason Mikkel has had enough. Kylmo was the same when he rode for Lakeside. He would take one look at the track and if he decided he didn't like it that particular night, that was it.

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The word last night was that it was his last match for Wolves. Won't be that easy to replace though, IMO

17 miles North of the track its just stopped raining after a long heavy shower so lets hope that's the one you are referring to now out of the way. The day is still damp and misty though. Wolves usually put on a good show when they are down so looking forward to tonight.

No, he has apparently not been to the track for about 4 years, nor to a fans forum so he doesn't actually know what Jon Cook tells the fans, and more to the point has never confronted never Jon Cook with his complaints at a forum. If he did he would be better informed.

Up to an including 21st May Swid had ridden 5 home matches at an average of 8.35, not including BP in 23 rides. Third in the home averages behind AJ and Kim but always riding as a second string. In 6 away matches his average was 4.67, although his away performances had tailed off in the last couple of matches. Edward Kennet has been running second in the PL averages so its reasonable that he should be given a chance to show what he can do in the next four matches.